| My friend Marshall Lee invited me back to his show to chat about things that hold artists back who are trying to make money freelancing. You can check out the interview here. It's about two hours. |
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I never look at the chat when I'm being interviewed, but I like to go back and look at it afterward, to see if I can address any of the questions that we didn't talk about.
Here's one I found: |
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MarV Artwork says: "The problem i find today is that everybody wants digital art. I'm a traditional artist."
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A bit of jargon. When MarV says he is a "traditional artist" he's just letting us know that he produces physical pieces of original art, not digital art.
What MarV is implying is that because he makes his art the old fashioned way, he can't get clients because everyone wants digital. For context, I checked MarV's YouTube Channel and learned that he draws comics.
Okay MarV, hopefully you accepted the invitation to subscribe to my emails, because I'm about to solve your problem.
This is a prime example of two things we addressed in the conversation over and over: |
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- Take responsibility for the delivery of your product. Making art traditionally has never been the problem. I can name tons of working artists who do not create their work digitally. In fact, it is a huge benefit. But unless you are talking about selling the original page you drew on, someone needs to capture the image. Do you expect your customer to do it? Why would they do that? You are expecting the client/customer to do your job. Stop it. Take your finished artwork to a copy place and have them scan it to a digital file that you can send to your client. Adding a simple digitizing process like this to your workflow will significantly increase your ability to make money.
- Think like a business, not an employee. "The problem is everybody wants ______ but _____" is the formula for making money. A business sees that and creates a solution (like I just did above) and sells it to you. Making art as a freelancer requires you to solve problems. Your own problems and your clients' problems. The more of the solution you provide to your clients, and the bigger problems you solve for them, means more money that you make. Waiting around for others to solve problems for you will keep you poor.
I'm not saying any of this to be mean, or act like I know everything and other people know nothing. This is the voice of experience.
For a long time, I avoided responsibility for whatever problems existed in my life and business. These days, I am more inclined than ever to face the truth:
The degree to which I have struggled as a professional artist has never been about my talent, and if you're struggling, it's probably not about your talent either.
It's about being a professional. Running your art business AS a business.
Not as a paid hobby, that you do when you "feel like it."
Not as a "hustle," which is about beating people out of money, without necessarily looking out for their needs and providing value for them.
Not even as a job. There is no "boss" to take responsibility for delivering results. No "company policies" to use as an excuse for bad service. No other department to blame when you don't know what to do.
No one else at all to take the weight when things go bad, or steal the credit when things go well.
It's all on you.
And once you have a chance to run your art like a real business - to have freedom and control of your life, and the income that comes when you deliver results instead of excuses- you won't want to go back.
Ever. |
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Everyone who buys a copy of my book #FreelancingFAIL within the next 24 hours will also receive a FREE ONE MONTH MEMBERSHIP in my new artists coaching group NEXT LEVEL Artists.
Here's what we will provide for you:
- Peer-to-peer support via the members-only NEXT LEVEL Artists Facebook group.
- Weekly FB Live Q + As to ensure that everyone's questions get answered.
- One 1-on-1 Coaching Call to help you get started right, and additional calls that you can actually afford, if you need 'em!
- FREE Digital Training and Reference Materials that address questions in the group, as fast as we can make them for you.
Click the blue button below to pay $10.00 to access and download #FreelancingFAIL with your free month of membership in the NEXT LEVEL Artists Group.
Then, if you choose to continue, it will cost $47 a month* after that. You can cancel at any time.
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Aaaand on that note, I gotta get back to work, fam.
Thanks again for reading!
Have a great day,
-Samax ("some AX") Amen |
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